Device for lifting, moving and unrolling carpet rolls



June '53, 196'? R. BRINKMAN DEVICE FOR LIFTING. MOVING AND UNROLLING CARPET ROLLS Filed Dec. 22, 1965 United States Patent 3,325,120 DEVICE FDR LIFTING, MOVING AND UNROLLING CARPET ROLLS Larry R. Brinkman, 417 W. Crawford, Luverne, Minn. 56156 Filed Dec. 22, 1965, Ser. No. 515,545 4 Claims. (Cl. 242--86.52)

ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A time and labor saving carpet rack comprising a pair of horizontally elongated wheel-supported coplanar angle irons each supporting an inverted U-shaped frame and arranged to provide a pair of mobile stands. Each stand embodies .a lifting jack. These paired jack-s rotatably support a detachable horizontal shaft on which a roll of carpet is wound. This rack makes one-man carpet handling manageable; easy to store, move, display and otherwise use.

The present invention relates to certain new and useful improvements in portable knockdown mobile support means for handling a heavy roll of carpet or the like in a practical and convenient manner.

Manifestly, long rolls of carpet are often heavy, unwieldy and unquestionably diflicult for one man to handle. There has long existed a need for practical and easyto-use device which is such in construction that it will acceptably serve the purposes of dealers who are engaged in handling floor coverings, particularly heavy and bulky rugs and carpets.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a simple and economical structure which will solve the problem in an aceptable manner. Keeping in mind the problem in relation to the wholesaling and retailing of carpet, as distinguished from the problem confronting the manufacturer, the objectives can be and are aptly and well served by the structural adaptation herein disclosed and hereinafter more fully set forth.

Briefly, the device comprises a pair of wheeled units or stands each characterized by a vertically elongated upright, a wheel supported base or truck unit, said upright embodying a simple frame equipped with a load lifting and lowering jack, more particularly, a jack provided with a bearing for rot-atably and removably supporting an end of a horizontally elongated pipe or equivalent shaft member on which the windings of the rug or carpet arewound or reeled, in the customary manner.

By using an elongated pipe or rod as the carpet supporting shaft, the end portions are capable of being rotatively mounted in -a pair of alignable sleeves or bearings. A highly satisfactory result is obtained by incorporating a substantially conventional type jack (automobile or vehicle jack) in and as a component part of the vertically elongated frame. The aforementioned sleeve, which may be a suitable length of pipe, is welded horizontally on an existing part of the lever and pawl-equipped slide unit on the rack bar. By providing duplicate mobile or wheelable jack-equipped stands and arranging the same in spaced apart and aligned relationship a structure is provided which is in keeping with the requirements of mobility whereby the carpet can be moved about in any direction as well as raised, lowered, unrolled, and laid evenly for display or storage, as the case may be.

The invention is also an innovation in that it is characterized by structural means above set forth and wherein the frames are so well balanced that the likelihood of tipping or toppling is reduced to a minimum.

These together with other objects and advantages which will become subsequently apparent reside in the details of construction and operation as more fully here- 3,325,120 Patented June 13, 1967 inafter described and claimed, reference being had to the accompanying drawings forming a. part hereof, wherein like numerals refer to like parts throughout, and in which:

FIG. 1 is an elevational view showing the improved device for lifting, lowering and handling a roll of carpet.

FIG. 2 is a view in end elevation of the structure shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a horizontal section on the horizontal section line 33 of FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a view on an enlarged scale showing one of the stands employed in the dual stand device.

Referring now to the views of the drawings it will be evident that the over-all structure or device is set up for use in the carpet handling and moving manner shown in the assembly views that is in FIGS. 1 and 2. Construed from the standpoint of the over-all combination the assembly comprises a mobile lifting and lowering stand or unit 6 at the left in FIG. 1 and a corresponding companion mobile stand or unit at the right. The roll of carpet (rolled up and stored for handling and display) is denoted at 10 and is wound or coiled on a horizontally elongated shaft 12 which may be a tube, a rod, a length of pipe or any equivalent supporting and carpet reeling and winding shaft. Both end portions 14 of the shaft are supported on the aforementioned portable or mobile jackequipped stands or units 6 and 8.

Novelty is predicated in particular on the construction and purpose of each such stand or unit for which reason a single unit is shown in FIG. 4. Accordingly, and with reference to FIG. 4 the base or truck is denoted at 16 and comprises an angle iron embodying a horizontal flange 18 and a vertical complemental flange 20. The horizontal flange is provided at its ends with duplicate properly mounted and constructed casters 21. The truck means 16 carries and supports an integral inverted substantially U-shaped frame 22. One leg 24 of the frame is channel-shaped and has its lower end 26 joined to an end portion of the flange 18, that is the end portion 28 at the left in FIG. 4. The opposed coplanar leg 30 has its lower end portion 32 welded or otherwise joined to a median portion of the flange, that is the portion 34. These legs 24 and 30 are of equal height and the corresponding upper ends are joined by a connecting member 36. One lengthwise surface of the leg 311 is provided with rack teeth 38. Strictly speaking this leg corresponds to the usual toothed standard of a vehicle hoisting jack. Accordingly, the vertically adjustable collar-like load lifting and lowering member or slide 40 is of substantially conventional construction and is slidingly mounted on the rack and is provided with a socket member 42 equipped with a spring-loaded pawl (not detailed), said pawl being generally denoted at 43 (FIG. 3) and arranged for adjustable ratcheting cooperation with the rack teeth. The socket member is provided, as is usual, with an attachable and detachable handle 44. The trip or trigger members for the pawl are denoted at 46 (FIG. 4). This member 40 is also provided with an outstanding flange 47 having a customarily notched seat 48 which is herein advantageously used to support a median portion of a horizontal open-ended tube or sleeve 50. This is to say, the median portion of the sleeve is welded as indicated at 48 and one end portion projects outwardly of the frame as denoted at 52 for example in FIG. 1, the other portion projecting inwardly beyond the frame as at 54 whereby to provide satisfactory bearing means for the coacting end portion 14 of the carpet storing and reeling shaft.

In actual practice it will be understood that when it becomes necessary or desirable to move a relatively heavy roll of carpet a suitable pipe or rod 12 of suificient length is passed through the hub or hollow center of the roll of carpet 10. This manner of use is brought out in FIG. 1 wherein the pipe provides a shaft between the opposed stands or units 6 and 8. The lever operated pawl equipped raising and lowering members 40 are first lowered to a level adjacent the level of the floor or other foundation and the opposite ends of the aforementioned pipe or shaft are telescopingly inserted into their respective bearing sleeves 50. Then the suspended shaft with the carpet wound thereon is jacked up to the desired level and wheeled into position for (1) storage or (2) for removal from storage or (3) for laying and rolling, as the case may be. Despite the mobility factor it will be clear that the truck supported frames (see FIG. 4) are so well balanced that there is little or no likelihood of the overall structure tilting or toppling over.

Anyone engaged in furnishings and having to do with storing, handling and moving rugs will understand and fully appreciate the nature of the innovation which is herein disclosed. The use of the inverted U-shaped frames and the positioning thereon at the points 28 and 34 in FIG. 4 is of structural and functional significance. Then, too, the fact that the bearing sleeve 50 is mounted between the legs 24 and 30 as shown in FIG. 4 contributes significantly to the over-all novelty of the structure.

In evaluating the subject matter of the invention it is significant to take into consideration the fact that the rack when in use as shown in FIG. 1 is characterized by a pair of opposed spaced parallel coplanar duplicate frames 6 and S, that each frame is characterized by a self-contained lifting and lowering jack and that each jack is provided with a suitably elongated bearing sleeve 50. The sleeves are aligned with each other and provide bearings for the insertable and removable end portions 14 of the carpet suspending shaft. It follows that each rack is not only portable but of a knockdown type and makes carpet handling easy. The herein disclosed rack is such that one man can handle heavy rolls of carpet. Accordingly, the rack is easy to store, to move, to adjust and handle and use in such manner as is necessary and whether the rack is being used in a storeroom or in the store proper for display and demonstrating purposes.

The foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the invention. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention as claimed.

What is claimed as new is as follows:

1. For use in supporting, transporting and handling a comparatively heavy and unwieldly roll of carpet, in a warehouse storeroom or the store proper, a portable knockdown three-part rack comprising first and second independent self-contained mobile stand-type units, each unit including a mobile truck comprising an elongated angle iron having horizontal and vertical flanges, said horizontal flange being provided on an underneath side at respective end portions with complemental swivelly mounted casters, and a vertically elongated upstanding frame secured at a lower end thereof to and rising perpendicularly from the flanges of said angle iron, each frame being equipped with self-contained jack means embodying a horizontal fixedly mounted bearing, said standtype units being disposed in opposed spaced apart cooperating alignment, and an elongated horizontally disposed carpet winding and supporting shaft having a primary portion thereof interposed between and spanning the space between said units and having terminal end portions telescopingly, rotatably and removably fitted into and supported by the respectively cooperable bearings.

2. The rack defined in and according to claim 1 and wherein each frame is of inverted U-shaped form and accordingly embodies a pair of coplanar depending legs having corresponding upper ends thereof rigidly joined together by a bight portion and having lower end portions fixedly joined to the coacting flanges of the aforementioned angle iron, one of the legs of said frame being provided on an exterior accessible side with a plurality of teeth defining and providing an adjusting rack, said self-contained jack means embodying a load lifting and lowering member embracing and slidingly mounted on said one leg and being provided with lever operated pawl means selectively and retentively engageable with the teeth of said rack, and said bearing being integrally joined with and constituting a component part of said load lifting and lowering member.

3. The structure defined in and according to claim 2 and wherein said load lifting and lowering member has a flanged portion located and projecting into the space between the legs of the companion frame, and said bearing comprising an elongated sleeve having a median portion fixedly mounted on said flanged portion, said bearing having its end portions projecting beyond the respectively cooperable inner and outer vertical sides of the overall frame.

4. The structure defined in and according to claim 3 and wherein each bearing sleeve is amply long that said frames are assembled, balanced, and maintained in cooperative relation with eachother as a result of the end portions of said shaft fitting into their respective bearing sleeves, and said sleeves being selectively shiftable on the end portions of said shaft, whereby the frames are capable of being adjusted toward and from each other in oriented parallel and cooperating relationship.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,837,175 12/1931 Steubing 242129.6 1,930,074 10/1933 Bentley 242-158.6 2,569,589 10/1951 Trissell 24286.52 2,601,960 7/1952 Hick 242129.6

FRANK .T. COHEN, Primary Examiner. N. L. MINTZ, Assistant Examiner. 

1. FOR USE IN SUPPORTING, TRANSPORTING AND HANDLING A COMPARATIVELY HEAVY AND UNWIELDLY ROLL OF CARPET, IN A WAREHOUSE STOREROOM OR THE STORE PROPER, A PORTABLE KNOCKDOWN THREE-PART RACK COMPRISING FIRST AND SECOND INDEPENDENT SELF-CONTAINED MOBILE STAND-TYPE UNITS, EACH UNIT INCLUDING A MOBILE TRUCK COMPRISING AN ELONGATED ANGLE IRON HAVING HORIZONTAL AND VERTICAL FLANGES, SAID HORIZONTAL FLANGE BEING PROVIDED ON AN UNDERNEATH SIDE AT RESPECTIVE END PORTIONS WITH COMPLEMENTAL SWIVELLY MOUNTED CASTERS, AND A VERTICALLY ELONGATED UPSTANDING FRAME SECURED AT A LOWER END THEREOF TO AND RISING PERPENDICULARLY FROM THE FLANGES OF SAID ANGLE IRON, EACH FRAME BEING EQUIPPED WITH SELF-CONTAINED JACK MEANS EMBODYING A HORIZONTAL FIXEDLY MOUNTED BEARING, SAID STANDTYPE UNITS BEING DISPOSED IN OPPOSED SPACED APART COOPERATING ALIGNMENT, AND AN ELONGATED HORIZONTALLY DISPOSED CARPET WINDING AND SUPPORTING SHAFT HAVING A PRIMARY PORTION THEREOF INTERPOSED BETWEEN AND SPANNING THE SPACE BETWEEN SAID UNITS AND HAVING TERMINAL END PORTIONS TELESCOPINGLY, ROTATABLY AND REMOVABLY FITTED INTO AND SUPPORTED BY THE RESPECTIVELY COOPERABLE BEARINGS. 